Catalyst
by DinoDina
Summary: Despite his token annoyance at the jokes and innuendos, he would have loved to take Jack up on the offer. In between the Rift, paperwork, and the few times they were too tired to do anything but sleep in Jack's bunker, they'd barely managed to get any time together. Janto oneshot.


Ianto didn't agree with Gwen's opinion on paperwork—"How hard can it be?" she'd said. "You dot your _i_ 's and cross your _t_ 's, and you're free to go!"—especially after all her time with Torchwood, but maybe it _was_ easier for her. Ianto himself took quite some time out of his afternoons to do the paperwork, and that, along with archival work and his constant presence in the field because of an increase in Rift activity, meant that he hadn't had a full night's sleep for at least a week.

His earpiece activated: "Ianto, coffee?"

It was not his earpiece, actually, but Jack. Ianto put his pen down and sighed. "It's always coffee with you."

"I appreciate you for more than coffee, but I think we're a bit overdue for it."

Ianto shrugged, though he knew Jack couldn't see him. "Just coffee, then."

"You're much more than coffee to me."

It sounded like a bad pickup line, but Ianto grinned. "I'll be right up."

"I'm counting on it."

Ianto sighed. Despite the jokes and innuendos, he would have loved to take Jack up on the offer. In between the Rift, paperwork, and the few times they were too tired to do anything but sleep in Jack's bunker, they'd barely managed to get any time together.

It was only lunchtime, and he was already exhausted. Still exhausted, since he'd been up since the morning chasing—though not catching—an alien that had fallen through the Rift in the middle of the night.

"You took your time," Jack said when Ianto finally approached the coffee machine.

"I'm tired. Got lost in thought on the way up." He sighed. "Look at us—we're all falling asleep where we stand! We need a break, or… I don't know what'll happen."

Sure enough, both Owen and Tosh were looking at him and Jack, standing at the coffee machine, with longing looks on their faces. They both looked ready to crash, and so did Gwen… except she wasn't there.

Ianto raised a questioning eyebrow. "Where's Gwen?"

"I don't know, probably sleeping. You know she runs late sometimes."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "See what happens when we're all tired?"

He ignored the fact that Gwen came in late anyway, but this was getting out of hand. He set the coffee machine to start and leaned against the counter, waiting for Jack's hands to begin wandering as they usually did.

Jack rested his chin on Ianto's shoulder. "I've missed you."

"You've seen me every day."

"Yeah, but that's at work—"

"Why the sudden professionalism?"

"Because we've been so busy." Jack kissed his jaw, softly; it might have lead to more, and it should have, but Ianto couldn't stop the yawn that threatened to escape. Jack chuckled. "You need sleep."

"I do."

"Real sleep, with no interruptions."

Ianto nodded.

He missed spending uninterrupted nights with Jack, when they were free to do whatever they wanted without falling asleep in the process. They were together, yes, but they hadn't been _together_ in so long.

"I miss you," Jack said softly. "I miss spending time with you."

"Amongst other things." Ianto chuckled.

"Yes, those things, too," Jack agreed. "But I miss _you_ most of all."

It had only been a week—but so much could happen in a week. "I miss you, too."

"I just hope the Rift activity stops soon," Jack said wearily. "Then we'll all be able to slow down… and we'll be able to spend time together. Properly."

"And improperly."

"And improperly." Jack laughed. "You _have_ missed me."

Ianto had, but it was so much easier to think of the sex, instead of the closeness and emotional support, that he missed. He turned his head and kissed Jack—a small distraction, but he hoped that Jack would get the message.

He didn't know how far they'd be able to take it—with the others at their desks and the coffee machine behind them—but the machine beeped and put their activities to a stop. Ianto felt Jack watching him as he took out a tray and filled their cups with coffee.

"You can take yours now since you're here." Ianto handed Jack his favorite striped mug. He leaned forward and lightly kissed Jack's cheek. "I'll hand these out, then I'll go back to the—"

"Why can't you just come with me?"

"Because I have work to do. The sooner I finish it, the sooner—"

"The sooner something else will come through the Rift and we won't get to spend any time together. Like the entire week!"

Ianto sighed. "Alright. How about I get my things from the Archives and come up to your office to finish?"

"Works for me." Jack grinned. He kissed Ianto and walked away.

Ianto shook his head in amusement at Jack's retreating back. Tosh and Owen had definitely seen that, but he didn't care. He'd take any opportunity to spend time with Jack, now, especially because before the Rift-crazy week, they'd been closer than ever. He just hoped the Rift storm would end soon and they'd be able to get some sleep—and free time.

Owen was standing over Tosh's desk, taking his coffee with a grin. "Don't think we didn't see that."

"I wasn't thinking anything of the sort," Ianto said, giving Tosh her coffee. "Anything else supposed to come through?"

Tosh peered at one of the screens in front of her. "Maybe something at around sundown, but I think we're over the worst of it."

"Really?"

"Really." Tosh grinned at him; Ianto knew he hadn't disguised the glee in his voice. "Business as usual."

Ianto couldn't wait to tell Jack.

He said his goodbyes and walked off to the Archives to get the paperwork. The walk took him a while, and he was just entering the Hub when the cog door rolled open and the alarms began blaring.

Gwen had arrived.

Ianto lifted his arm to greet her, opened his mouth to say something, but more alarms cut him off. Something wasn't right. The lights were flashing red, the noise was deafening, he saw Tosh and Owen stand up, on-edge, and look around; and Gwen was in the middle of it all, but she wasn't Gwen anymore.

Ianto reached for his gun, but had barely moved before he felt himself falling.

.oOo.

The voice came from far away, distant as if through a layer of tulle, and so, so insignificant. It was tiny and echoing, but not at all interesting, and it became smaller and smaller as Ianto dropped deeper and deeper, and then it became angry, and began to buzz, and grew louder and louder, and then it turned into Jack, his face scrunched up with worry, shaking Ianto awake and brushing cobwebs off him and sweeping him up into an anxious hug before Ianto could say anything.

"You're alright," Jack said, so quietly Ianto probably wasn't supposed to hear, but it was desperately whispered into his ear and he nodded.

"What happened?"

He was behind the stairs to Jack's office, so it wasn't a view he was used to, but the Hub was dark and quiet, hardly its usual flurry of light and sound, and it felt _wrong._

"Alien got Gwen on the way in, came in looking like her, secreted all the web-like stuff that put us to sleep—it wanted one of the weapons, I think, because the intruder alerts went off at the armoury and it was taken care of there. Completely disintegrated, their species must not react well to our bullets."

Ianto frowned. "So we know nothing about them?"

"Almost nothing," Jack said. "I've seen them: once, maybe twice… I didn't recognize this one—it's the one that came through the Rift yesterday, I recognized it when Toshiko played over the security footage."

"So that's taken care of."

"Yes."

"And Gwen?"

Jack laughed, one of his hands ruffling Ianto's hair. "Just awakened from an enchanted sleep and you're already asking about everyone else…"

" _Jack_."

"Yes, she's fine, Owen and Tosh are bringing her home now. Tired, a bit shaken, but she's alright." Jack grinned. "Mind you, that you're asking after a beautiful woman and not your gallant savior… I'm hurt!"

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Jack."

"You're welcome." He ruffled Ianto's hair again. "You wouldn't be you if you weren't so caring."

"Jack…" Ianto didn't know what to say to that, and so said nothing, then, "Why webs? Was it some sort of arachnid, or is it—"

"Feel free to see for yourself, if you want. I've seen the species a bit in some of the shadier parts of the galaxy, this one must've fallen through the Rift. I don't know much about them, though." Jack shifted their still linked position to look out across the Hub. "You were asleep for a few hours, all our equipment down… not enough to break anything, but it's still…"

"Yeah." Ianto nodded. "We should check. How did we wake up? Excluding, of course, the fact that I was apparently awoken by a gallant prince. Or knight, if you prefer."

Jack brushed his lips against his temple. "Anytime. And… well, I woke up first, for obvious reasons, and got Owen and Tosh up—it was just a matter of shaking them awake—and they found Gwen, so I sent them to take her home, and went searching for you. You weren't easy to find, you know." 

"Nothing worth finding ever is."

"I'm just happy I did." Jack kissed him again, and Ianto sensed immediately that it was something he _needed_ to do. "We don't know how the webs affect humans—my guess is that it's some sort of hormone in them that acts as a defense or attack mechanism—so—"

"Yeah." Ianto understood exactly what he meant, because he, too, felt that. The idea of not being able to wake up and ever see Jack again, the idea of there being complications, or— "Should we check…?"

Jack nodded, but he was hesitant. "Are you sure—"

"Yes."

Ianto shifted so they could separate, but Jack still helped him up, and only then did Ianto realize the full extent of what had happened. The still-dark Hub looked even more unusual now that he was actually looking at it; it was almost completely lifeless.

Tosh's computer began to beep and turned on, her desk illuminating. Ianto watched the computers on his, Gwen's, and Owen's desks turn on, too, and the red light above the cog door cast its eerie glow over the Hub.

Myfanwy screeched and swooped out of her aerie. She sounded indignant, probably because of the cobwebs hanging off her wings, tail, and crest. After making a circle around the cobwebbed ceiling, swept down and lander with a clatter in front of them just as the overhead lights flickered to life with a loud whir.

"Hey, girl." Ianto smiled; he'd almost forgotten about her, but the Hub looked decimated, and he felt guilty for not thinking that she might have been affected. But Myfanwy knuckled closer, looking at him and Jack questioningly and trying to shake the webs off her wings.

She squawked.

"Hey," Jack said with a smile. Myfanwy came closer and they knelt to be face-to-face with her. Jack slowly pet her crest, brushing away the cobwebs. "I'm sorry we forgot about you. I'll get Owen to look at you when we get back…" He turned sharply at Ianto, who tried to disguise the fact that he'd just grabbed onto Jack's hand. But it didn't work. "Are you alright?"

Ianto nodded, fighting back the impulse to yawn. "Just tired."

Jack looked doubtful now, one hand on Myfanwy and other other gently placed on Ianto's arm. "I think I sent Owen away too early."

Ianto nodded. He felt _fine_ , just tired and groggy and in desperate need of a shower, but he couldn't say the same about Myfanwy.

"I meant for you."

Ianto laughed and leaned into Jack's side, tilting up his face to kiss Jack's cheek. "That, too, but I honestly think I just need to sleep. We've been going nonstop lately, I'm exhausted, and that's without the enchanted sleep."

Jack still didn't look convinced, but Ianto was. He brushed a web off his sleeve, then one out of Jack's hair. "We can wait for Owen, if you want to."

"Yeah, I think that'll—yeah." Jack stood them up and pet Myfanwy again. "Come on."

The three of them moved over to the couch—which had already been torn by Myfanwy—and settled down to wait, taking cobwebs off each other and watching the Hub come back to life, until Jack's phone rang.

"It's Owen," he said, then focused on the phone. "Hello."

Ianto continued cleaning Myfanwy as Jack spoke with Owen. Myfanwy was usually in charge of herself, going out at night to and bathe in the bay, but Ianto always brought her food throughout the day and washed her once every few weeks.

Jack eventually hung up; Myfanwy squawked as he shifted under her. Ianto looked expectantly at him.

"They're all tired," Jack reported. "Gwen more than Owen and Tosh, but Owen said it's just because she was asleep for longer. Residual effect of the chemicals in the webs, but not dangerous."

Ianto rubbed at his eyes, feeling more tired than before and fighting the urge to close them. "I'm free to go to bed, then?"

Jack nodded.

Ianto nodded back. He lightly pushed against Myfanwy, but she didn't want to budge, and laid her head between Jack and Ianto's shoulders. Ianto nudged her again. "You need to get off."

Jack tilted his head to look at her. "I think she's asleep."

"Myfanwy, please get off," Ianto said again. "You can't sleep here."

He sighed. Ianto didn't know what he and Jack would do if Myfanwy had indeed fallen asleep on top of them. They'd try to get her off, of course, but despite being somewhat domesticated, she was still a dinosaur, and it wouldn't be a good idea to force her into anything.

He lightly touched Myfanwy's neck, where her skin was more sensitive, and smiled in relief when she lazily opened her eyes and looked at him. "Hey… you need to get off now, or you'll just fall asleep here."

Jack pet her wing. "Ianto's right. Get off, you'll be able to sleep in a more comfortable place."

She shot them both scornful looks, but did as she was told and gradually shifted until they were able to stand up. She made no further attempts at moving, though, and Ianto asked, "She's fine to sleep here, right?"

"Well—"

"Because I don't think she's going anywhere." True enough, Myfanwy's eyes were closed once more. Ianto smiled at her—a bit like one would smile at a pet, he thought—and yawned, then chuckled at himself. "I think it's my turn now."

"Yeah, I think it is," Jack said. "You're due for some sleep anyway."

"So are you," Ianto pointed out. He turned to Jack. "Are you coming? Back with me, I mean… to my flat?"

"Nope."

Ianto tried not to let his disappointment show on his face.

"Think about it, Ianto: you can't expect to drive all the way back to your flat." Jack paused, probably for effect. "Just stay here; I have a bed."

"It always ends there with you, doesn't it?"

"Of course."

Ianto grinned. "Well, lead on, then."

"Of course." Jack grabbed his waist and pulled him closer, and began to walk, keeping Ianto next to him.

With Jack's earlier jokes about awakening Ianto from an enchanted sleep, Ianto couldn't help but feel like the princess of fairytales, being led to bed by her gallant knight. No change at all, then: at the end of the day, he ended up in Jack's bed.

Ianto was so lost in his thoughts about princesses and relationships that he didn't notice them enter Jack's office. When he focused on Jack's face, Jack was laughing.

Despite that, Jack looked concerned. "You're exhausted!"

"Several hours of enchanted sleep can't help a week of four-hour nights," Ianto pointed out.

"Sleep it is, then." Jack followed him down into the bunker. "A lot of sleep. A full night's sleep."

"Just sleep."

"Just sleep," Jack confirmed.

Ianto had been looking forward to this all day—all week—and he lay down. There were many nights when they just slept, but the statement made him feel… odd. Something else was being confirmed here, he knew, he just couldn't put his finger on _what_.

"Just sleep," Ianto said again, softly, as he lay down.

"Yeah." Jack hugged him from behind. Ianto felt himself begin to drift off—finally, and it would a full night's sleep, he could feel it—and then he heard Jack's soft whisper. He wasn't sure if he was even supposed to hear it. "Good thing we're more than just a sex thing. Would be awkward if we weren't."

"Very awkward," Ianto agreed. He closed his eyes. "Good thing we're not awkward."


End file.
